Fig 5. Correlation between pneumococcal colonisation density (SPN positive participants) and mean nasal symptom severity scores at days 2 and 7.

Spearman’s correlation was used to statistically analyse the correlation between bacterial colonisation density and the participants symptoms score on the visual analogue scale. Participants were deemed symptomatic if they scored >2, or >1 point above baseline for any of the five nasal or non-nasal symptoms in the visual analogue scale. No direct correlation was seen between SPN density and the mean symptom severity score at day 2 and day 7 for nasal (p = 0.86) or non-nasal symptoms (p = 0.83).